Most people have a hole in them. A giant hole. I had one. This hole is the gap between who they really are and who they go through life pretending to be. Most people do not even know that they have this hole in them, but the hole shows up in their lives, in its mild form as discontent and in the more extreme form as a dis-ease. This hole was the cause of my discontent, I know now.

The hole is like a baby crying for attention and seeking love. To escape from this noise, some turn to self-destructive behavior such as drugs, alcohol, gratuitous sex and violence others chase after fame, fortune and pleasure of one kind or another. But this noise does not go away, no matter how much one tries to escape from it through external objects.  Many wealthy and famous people, who lack nothing are miserable, and by contrast some of the poorest people are happy with very little. No amount of external fame, fortune or pleasure seeking will stop this noise within us. Only love can fill this hole.

Not ordinary love. Not love of the flesh (Eros) but an all-inclusive love, a transcendental love (agape). This hole is so big that only the love of God or the love of self can fill this hole. Many people turn to religion and their love for their God fills them up completely and fully. Karl Marx is said to have remarked that “religion is the opiate of the masses”. He was an atheist and his remark was harsh, but not untrue, if taken as a metaphor. The alternative to religion, as Krishnamurti teaches, is self-knowledge. Knowing oneself is to love oneself, and to love oneself is to love all of existence. This is all-encompassing love, call it love for God or love for the self. This is what it takes to fill the hole inside of us.

This hole in us is the gap between our ego and our authentic self. It is the gap between our human nature and the divinity within us, folks who believe in the immanence of the spirit believe. Our unease in life comes from this gap. This gap is the black hole in our being, this hole can become and often is our personal hell. It sucks the life out of us. Until and unless we recognize this hole and fill it with love we can never be at peace with ourselves. The love that is needed most is self-love, not of the narcissistic kind but of the kind that accepts us for who we are without judgement and unconditionally. If only we could love ourselves the way our dog loves us we would be whole. Our deepest yearning is to become whole Holiness is being whole.

“Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self.”  Victor Frankl, Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor.

“There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done

Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung….

There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be

It’s easy

All you need is love, all you need is love

All you need is love, love, love is all you need”

The Beatles

This I believe:

15. Love that is needed most is self-love, not the narcissistic kind but agape. Transcendental love is unlimited and unbounded, it envelops all.